Those of you that have been reading for a while know that I don’t like to throw things away that still have a use. That also applies to food. One of the reasons I took so many years to buy a juicer is that I didn’t like the idea of throwing away the juice pulp, which I was certain contained fiber and most likely nutrition as well. Because the flax cracker worked so well I knew that the pulp needed to be incorporated into other foods. When my friend Louis mentioned cookies from the pulp and Heather agreed I knew I had to give it a try. They are so easy it is ridiculous. Here is what I did.
Raw Cookies from Cashews, Reduced Fat Coconut and Juice Pulp
Makes 16 cookiesIngredients:
2 cups raw cashews (not soaked)
1 cup reduced fat coconut (Let’s Do Organic)
Carrot, Apple, Celery, Lemon and Ginger juice pulp from here
4 Medjool dates, pitted
Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in your food processor and process until the mixture forms a ball. If you are concerned about the power of your food processor you can process until they are ground (but before they turn into nut butter) and then add the remaining ingredients.
I used a small disher to form the cookies and placed them directly on the mesh dehydrator sheet. Since I wanted them to be chewy I dehydrated them at 104 degrees for 4 hours.
The resulting cookies are firm on the outside but chewy on the inside.
Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving
Calories - 105.69
Calories From Fat (57%) - 60.68
Total Fat - 17.75g
Saturated Fat - 2.18g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 8.59mg
Potassium - 156.22mg
Total Carbohydrates - 10.51g
Fiber - 1.65g
Sugar - 5.52g
Protein - 2.63g
The nutritional numbers are a bit of swag since I had to estimate what was left in the juice pulp. If anything I have overstated the numbers above, except the fiber which is probably higher than shown.
Comments:
This is going to sound strange, but I am not much of a sweets person. That is my hubby’s role in the family. I tried one of these to see if they were finished, which lead to a second cookie, because I needed to take its picture whole and the interior. Who I am kidding? These things are really good! Not just good, but really good. I am very happy they only have 105 calories a piece. These things could spell trouble.
Unrelated Note:
I will be back later with another recipe. For now I need to get a few things accomplished at home. Talk to you all again soon.
Oh these look too good to be legal! :-D Alas, I have no coconut on hand, and the odds of my finding reduced-fat coconut here in West Cowpie, WY are close to nil (shame Amazon doesn't sell the packages individually!). So I may have to just buy regular coconut when we go to town tomorrow so I can try these (and hope they're not as addictive as they look!) Just like you, my DH is the one with the sweet tooth, while I'm the salty-savory fiend. But these cookies... oh my! ME WANT! :-)
ReplyDeleteLalo,
ReplyDeleteThese cookies are addictive, I am warning you. And I don't like sweets that much.
Our local grocery store (Wegman's) sells the reduced fat coconut. There is probably another on-source. I only choose Amazon because I was on that site for something else.
I love the salty and savory foods too. Makes me think I should make something crunchy and healthy next. Any requests?
Alicia
hey Alicia, sorry about that wierd comment on your last post, i thought that i had entered a comment but i wasnt logged on yet.so it didnt even go through. that yogurt post was a good read. i liked going through all the steps that you took to get to the finished product.
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteNo worries. It just confused me, but that is nothing new.
Glad you enjoyed the yogurt post.
talk to you later,
Alicia
These look good, what a fun way to use your pulp.
ReplyDeleteRose,
ReplyDeleteThese are so good it is scary! The hubby is already looking forward to taste testing them tonight. I can tell these will be a regular item at our house. Now I will need to try to hold Dan to a couple of these after meals so his blood sugar doesn't spike.
I am definitely have more fun playing with the juice pulp than I expected to. I can imagine vegetable juice pulp in veggie burgers too.
talk to you later,
Alicia
OK, thank goodness, I am not the only one who hates to throw away the pulp from the juicer....I have thought about freezing it until I could figure out what to do with it. I am so gonna make these!!!!
ReplyDeleteYummy!
Oh, Alicia I just found a raw hot and sour soup that I am going to make next month..
Wow, Alicia! I'm starting to think I need to invest in a juicer and a dehydrator! Yummy!
ReplyDeleteBrandi,
ReplyDeleteDan just had two of the cookies and he really liked them too. He told me it is his favorite use for the juice pulp so far. But he does have a sweet tooth so keep that in mind. ;)
LJ,
I am really loving my juicer and dehydrator at the moment. Can you tell? I had been resisting raw food for a while because I thought it was too difficult. However, I was wrong. Raw food is much easier than I expected. It takes a while but most of the time you aren't doing anything other than waiting.
Alicia
I am a cookie monster big time. Chocolates do not tempt me. Cakes are usually gross looking honestly. But cookies!!!!! Another story.
ReplyDeleteHey, Alicia!
ReplyDeleteI love the salty and savory foods too. Makes me think I should make something crunchy and healthy next. Any requests?
Ummm... fat-free vegan goldfish crackers? :-)
Heather,
ReplyDeleteMy hubby is a cookie monster too. He had two of these last night before I cut him off. He has declared them delicious.
Lalo,
Fat free goldfish huh! I will give it a try. At a minimum they need to be whole wheat right? Any thing else I need to keep in mind?
talk to you both later,
Alicia
LOL - I was quasi-joking, but if want to try making them, hey - who am I to argue? These were one of my irresistible temptations when I ate mindlessly. :-)
ReplyDeleteAny whole grain (or brown rice) flour will do! And I can't think of anything else to keep in mind.
Lalo,
ReplyDeleteI am happy to add things to the to do list. My first reaction to making fat free crackers was to dehydrate them. I had an interesting dehydrated corn bread at the MiniBar that had a wonderful airy and crispy texture. Do you have a dehydrator or are you thinking of getting one? If not I will try to bake them.
Alicia
These sound really good -- I wonder if I could make them without a dehydrator?
ReplyDeleteBeatrice,
ReplyDeleteIf your oven has a very low temperature setting and a convection option you are home free. My oven can be set to 100 degrees so you may want check yours. If not set is as low as the oven will allow and check them often. It should work fine.
Alicia
Alicia, we don't have a food dehydrator (we used to, but got rid of it in one of those frenzied purges - drat!) and though we're considering getting one someday, that will be in the pretty distant future. So fat-free vegan goldfish crackers with both baking and dehydrating instructions would be most welcome! :-) (I also paid close attention to your answer to Beatrice's question, since we're in the same boat!)
ReplyDeleteLalo,
ReplyDeleteGot it. I will work on the baked version at the same time.
BTW, I took some of these cookies to our friends Walid and Jackie last night. They both really liked them, and Jackie isn't a big fan of coconut. I think this recipe turned out well. ;)
Alicia
I have been reading a lot more about eating raw and I want to eat more raw. Why don't you germinate the nuts in this recipe and then dehydrate them back crunchy? Doesn't soaking them "unlock" their nutrients or something?
ReplyDeletep.s. I'm excited to try these.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI have read the same things about nuts and seeds but so far I can't find a credible scientific source that backs it up. Since I was just playing around I didn't feel like soaking and dehydrating.
If you find a scientific source on the soaking and nutrition please let me know. I would be very interested in reading it. If I find something I will let you know too.
Alicia
Great idea! Were they sweet enough with just the dates?
ReplyDeleteRicki,
ReplyDeleteYou wouldn't think they would be sweet enough, but they were. There were four us eating them, with different levels of sweet acuity and we all thought they were sweet enough. I thought they were a little too sweet, but I was alone on that.
You will know whether they are sweet enough for you when you taste the "dough" before they are dehydrated.
Alicia